Incredible offensive play

With the explosion of scoring and offensive play in the NBA during the last 30 years, let's look at the MVP winners who truly separated themselves from everyone else with their incredible play.

Allen Iverson (2001)

Allen Iverson's MVP season in 2001 remains remarkable, standing at 6ft, the guard averaged 31.1 points on the way to his second scoring title and helped the Philadelphia 76ers to the top of the Eastern Conference with 56 wins, according to Bleacher Report.

LeBron James (2009)

The king put everything together in his 2009 MVP season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 28.4 points, 7.2 assists, and 7.6 rebounds, ESPN reported.

Putting it together

He led an average Cavs team to the best record in the league, with 66 wins, and received his first All-Defensive First Team selection, as well as leading his team in every major statistical category.

Michael Jordan (1996)

Michael Jordan's first full season back from playing baseball was historic, after leading his Chicago Bulls team to a then record of 72 wins in the regular season and their fourth NBA title.

No slowing down

The 33-year-old at the time-averaged 30.4 points a game, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists, reports ESPN, reminding everyone why he's regarded as the greatest basketball player to ever live.

Shaquille O'Neal (2000)

Shaquille O'Neal is regarded as the most dominant player to ever play in the NBA, and inevitably showed the world that in the 1999/2000 season.

Best two-way player

Shaq led his Lakers team to an NBA championship, averaging 29 points (the highest in the NBA) and 13 rebounds, finishing second and third in the league in rebounding and blocks, according to Sportskeeda.

Russell Westbrook (2017)

Russell Westbrook's MVP season was the second time in NBA history that a player averaged a triple-double over the entire regular season, averaging 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists, according to ESPN.

Stephen Curry (2016)

The only unanimous MVP in NBA history was Stephen Curry, who won the award in 2016 after leading his team to the best regular season campaign, winning 73 games.

Scoring sensation

Curry led the league in scoring and steals, averaging 30.1 points and 2.1 steals. He also broke the record for the most three-pointers in a season with 402, as reported in Sportskeeda.

Giannis Antetokounmpo (2020)

In 2020, Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo had a historic MVP campaign, leading the Bucks to the best record in the Eastern Conference and excelling on both the offensive and defensive ends.

Third in league history

The 'Greek Freak' averaged 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game, and became the third player in league history to win the Defensive Player of the Year in the same campaign.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2025)

Canadian star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander edged out Nikola Jokic to win the 2025 MVP. The OKC star averaged a league-high 32.7 PPG, 6.4 assists, and five rebounds, leading the Thunder to a franchise-best 68 wins. He helped OKC to 84 total wins, the third best in NBA history, and the NBA title.

Him and Jordan

According to the Irish Examiner, he joins Michael Jordan as the only players to average at least 30 points on 50% shooting with five rebounds, five assists, 1.5 steals, and one blocked shot in a season.

LeBron James (2013)

'The King's' 2013 MVP season is one of the greatest MVP seasons in terms of efficiency, recording 26.8 points a game off 57% shooting, 7.3 assists, and eight rebounds, reported by Bleacher Report.

Winning in Miami

James' extremely impressive efficiency, as well as the output from fellow stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, led Miami to a 66-16 regular season and an NBA Championship after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.

Nikola Jokic (2022)

The most recent player to win an MVP award was Denver's Nikola Jokic, who had one of the greatest seasons an NBA center has ever had.

Most efficient player ever

'The Joker' earned a player efficiency rating of 32.8 (the best in NBA history) and averaged 27.1 points on 58% shooting, according to QuintDaily. Despite that, his team was knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by eventual winners Golden State Warriors.

Shooting machine

Durant averaged 32 points a game, which is the most for an MVP since Michael Jordan's 35ppg in his 1988 MVP season. However, Gilgeous-Alexander has now beaten that, according to ESPN. He led his team to 59 wins, but ultimately lost in the Conference Finals to the San Antonio Spurs 2-4.